Through a weird and wild set of circumstances, I have been hired as the Base Camp Services Manager at Philmont's Base Camp. I've spent the last four days traveling across the country to arrive here in Cimarron, NM. Today was particularly scenic.
I left Foss, OK. at 4 AM Eastern/ 2AM Mountain time this morning. I wanted to get a good jump on the traffic. I had also slept quite a bit, and was ready to go. Driving through Texas is always interesting. The speed limit there is 75 MPH. Now, I didn't drive that fast. I didn't want to overdrive my headlights, especially in fog. I made great time none the less.
Once I made it to the plains of New Mexico I started seeing all sorts of wildlife. I saw two coyotes, although I might have seen them in Texas just before I made it to New Mexico. I saw an antelope and a deer within about a minute of each other. Then I started seeing all sorts of antelope. I believe I counted up to 25 before I gave up.
I gave up when I had an antelope standing right in the middle of the road. I laid on my horn, and slammed on my brakes. It didn't pay much attention to me until I was right up on it. Admittedly, I was not too happy with that one. I did manage to see what I believe was a golden eagle, a smaller hawk, and two moose. That's not to mention all the black angus cattle that were scattered over many miles.
I was about 50 miles from Philmont when my GPS holder decided to not stick to my windshield. I kind of gave up on it at the time since I was driving in a straight line anyhow. The rest of the drive was uneventful, and I pulled into Philmont HQ.
After that it was lots of paperwork. I won't bore you with the details, but I ended up getting everything taken care of pretty quickly. I turned in my voucher for three green Philmont shirts and a hat, so that I can be in uniform.
I talked to two of my bosses later in the day. They were really serious about me being a manager, which is still shocking for me to say. I have to say the title came with some perks. I am now living in a dorm instead of a tent. I did not expect that at all. I asked them if they were sure about that? But I was given a key to the dorm and it worked.
I am also going to be given an office tomorrow. I hear it's not much bigger than a broom closet, but dang it, it's an office. I don't believe there's a computer in the office, but hey, an office is an office. I'm almost important.
I guess I play it by ear for the time being. Next up, I will meet my minions and start a list of projects to tackle. Oh, and I also have to rearrange all my stuff. I brought way too much stuff, but I thought I was going to be in a tent. Believe it or not the tents have more room than the dorms. But the dorms have their own bathroom and shower. I just have to share them with two other people right now, and possibly another in the next few days.
I also have to break out my camera and start taking photos. I think I might post a few blogs that are nothing but photos and descriptions. But one thing at a time. It's time to take a deep breath, and start working on my to-do list.
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